If this question actually belongs on the tech thread, and is not just rank stupidity on my part, then I apologize.

I've just installed Uni and NL, and decided to send a Sim through college to check it out. Using just the default State college and default dorms. I find that there is no way short of having a date downtown or grilling hot dogs on public lots for my Sims to eat. Clicking on any of the appliances in the dorms (or anywhere else a stove or fridge is placed) gives me a "there are no actions possible" message. This is especially odd, since according to the docs one clicks on the stove to "work in the cafeteria." No one works in the cafeteria. None of the college sims eat. What is going on here?

-- Mal

There should automatically be a worker in the dorm kitchen area (takes a few hours off during the night) cooking, serving food, and cleaning up. Something is definately wrong. I would try searching for answers over at the mts2 help forum here.

If you want your Sim to eat on a community lot, a restaurant is generally better than the old "park"-style grill that comes with the base game (and usually found in parks). Do you have the University stove in the dorm? For the cafeteria worker to show up and work, there must be the University stove (I can't think of what it is called) and some island counters for the food to be served on. I want to say that a fridge is not required and that the worker spawns the food out of the air, but I haven't played TS2 in a while to say for certain. The sprinklers are a good thing to have, since the worker will sometimes set fire to the place. (Hint: Place the sprinklers directly over the stove or any counter with an appliance that could start a fire--this puts out the fire, reduces the number of puddles to mop up since puddles do not form under counters/stoves, and prevents Sims from pulling a prank with the sprinklers).

I know you can click on the cafeteria worker to work in the cafeteria. The cafeteria worker will wander around the dorm and interact with other Sims. Check to make sure you don't have any bad/conflicting hacks.

Even with the cafeteria worker there, my sims can still cook; the worker just tends to get in the way, but I've seen them do it

Really? My sims get a fair variety of foods-- either pancakes or omlettes at breakfasttime, grilled cheese sandwiches or mac'n'cheese at lunch, mac'n'cheese or spaghetti for dinner.

I also built a custom dorm with one "campus" stove and one normal stove, so my sims can cook for themselves without bothering the cafeteria worker (who only uses the "campus" stove).

The food seemed to follow a pattern - Omlettes then pankackes until breakfast was over. Chili for lunch (then maybe grilled cheese - its been a couple months) until lunch was over, the Spaghetti then Mac'n'Cheese until she goes home.

Mal - make sure you have the right stove in your dorms. It should be the silver metal one that does NOT have an oven attached. That is the only one that will bring the cook to the dorms, and it may be whats preventing your sims from being able to cook.

The only option on the stove will be "work in cafeteria", but if you click on the fridge, you can choose to cook anything within your sims cooking abilities.

my NPC was there the first time I played a dorm, but now there's nobody...

The cafeteria worker does leave at midnight and come back the next morning. Did something happen while he was gone? Like a fire or something?

Don't ask the cafeteria worker over to your house (Once you move out) and ask them to move in, maybe thats what people are experiencing?

Really? I never knew that, in that case I will sell my refridgerators, because it makes no sense when YA's get hungry and some take the prepared food and some prefer to cook their own meal and risk fires and get into the Lunch Workers way all the time.

When the cafeteria worker dies in a fire or something, ther won't be coming a new one. I had that happen in my game and it sucked.lol

Isn't there a way to get the cafeteria worker to cook other kinds of foods. Their cooking points are almost maxed (I checked), but how come they don't cook other food? I mean I know there is a hack somewhere, but I can't find it anymore.

I usually let my sims with higher cooking skill make a group meal of something they like. (Especially if they need to study cooking)

Me myself is getting tired of the same Lunch Worker, showing up everytime, and I play about 6 dorms, and serveral lunch community lots, and its always the same one, the same old guy. I beleive there is supposed to be 3 in the game.

I had 2 different ones already. Old guy and old lady.lol